The Turning Point
by Offcentercompass
Summary: Set in the White castle a few years after he marries Regina. Leopold comes to visit his wife late at night. Snow features because she can't do as she is told. Warnings - abuse, non-con, explict content, twisted and hints at Regina's descent into the darkness


Dark, trigger warnings for non-con.

As a reviewer for another story said, effed up - sums things up quite nicely.

Review if you (enjoy is probably not the right word) appreciate the theme and writing.

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A fourteen year old Snow sat at the foot of her bed, it was after the teenager's bedtime but she often snuck into her step-mother's room after the candles had been snuffed out.

And because Regina had a masochistic side she let the child sit there and prattle to her. She really didn't know why, except things could actually get worse for her if Snow tattled to her father about being ignored. At least Leopold currently only tended to involve himself in her life if he had a few drinks and needed a release. Should Snow moan about Regina's behaviour or lack of intrest in the prodigal daughter, he could decree all sorts of other things, and remove the slivers of freedom she did have.

She had learnt to disengage, letting the child drone on without actually listening. Sometimes she'd immerse herself in her imagination, visions of snapping the stupid child's neck filling her mind. She had to catch herself before she grinned, her reaction out of place for the syrupy sweet nonsense Snow usually talked about. She didn't want to gave the game away.

Tonight their session was cut short when a guard knocked on the door and in his booming voice announced, "Prepare for The King."

Regina's heart sank but Snow's eye grew wide, hoping she'd be allowed to sit and greet her father. The fact she should be in her own bed asleep, and that if she were any normal child she would be in trouble didn't even cross her mind. Regina already knew the girl was spoilt, but at times like these she was reminded that Leopold never raised his hands or his voice to his child, even when she misbehaved or was in the wrong. That was a pleasure he saved only for his young wife. How lucky she was.

Regina was learning to become cruel, but even she didn't want Snow witnessing this and losing her innocence. It was her humiliation to bear alone. It was with a tightening in her throat that belied her nerves that she stated, "Snow you must go back to your room, quickly and quietly. Go now."

She used her most commanding tone and watched the girl pout at her. By she was glad when she heard herself, her voice was smooth and steady. She was learning, her control getting better everyday, hiding her emotions deeper and deeper.

"I want to see father, he was too busy in court today and I miss him." Snow whined, and Regina floundered. The darker part of her mind hissed to her to explain in painful detail to the child how her Darling Daddy intended to waltz into the room and fuck her step-mother hard. She repressed it. She couldn't explain what the man really wanted, that would be crossing a line, and if she did educate Snow briefly in the few moments they had the young girl was bound to say something to the wrong person like she always did and incriminate Regina.

"I'll ensure he visits you tomorrow, but you can't stay now. As you said he had a long day, he is coming to relax with his wife." Regina hoped it was vague enough to get her to leave, because it wasn't appropriate for Snow to stay.

Snow glared at her, she didn't like being told no, and she didn't think there was anything Regina could say or do that would hold his attention like she could. When they were together her father rarely spoke to his wife, why would this evening be different? Regina knew it would be and despite her hatred, now was not a time to teach the dim witted child about the birds and the bees.

Regina saw the building tantrum, the furrowing brow and bitten lip and hated herself as she begged, "Please don't be difficult Snow, please do as I say."

The girl looked at Regina's face that was set. She knew she wasn't going to be granted what she wanted this night. So she slapped her feet into the stone floor in an angry huff, but did as she was asked, her shoulders slumped and a death glare on her pale features. Her thoughts as she returned to her room were that she might mention this to her father tomorrow.

Regina breathed a sigh of relief but didn't have long to contemplate the victory before the child's father was standing before her. It was clear he had been drinking and was aroused. Her heart sunk even further. These were usually degrading experiences that she never derived any pleasure from, but they tended to go on longer if Leopold had had a drink. It gave him stamina or dulled his sense of feeling, or some excuse, so it took more to stimulate him. To be honest she didn't care why, she just wished it could be over sooner.

Without any conversation and without the tenderness of kissing and foreplay she had heard rumours of, she was lying flat on her back with Leopold's naked and heavy weight pressing on top of her. She assumed the position she knew was required of her, she had years of practice now.

His skin was leathery against her softness and she could smell his scent engulfing her. It could best be described as old person, hanging in a cloud round him, dry, dusty and the sweet curdling smell of wine on his breath made her stomach clench in revulsion.

She stilled her face and despite wanting to turn away she didn't. She remained with her eyes downcast, subservient as he liked her, showing none of her inner turmoil. She had been trained and knew she wasn't meant to make a sound during these encounters. This was about Leopold, The King. She was to respect him and allow him free reign over her body, please him as he felt fit as wife and loyal subject. To be honest he might have liked a groan or moan of pleasure, but she had never felt able to fake it like that. What he took exception to was her crying out in pain and supplication for him to stop. She had worn his handprint round her neck for days as he choked the sound from her and forcibly made her quiet beneath him the first time and she had never made a sound since that day.

She could feel his erection pressing into her stomach through their thin cotton nightwear. There was heat from him, but none claiming her body to make her aroused and this experience easier. She had long ago resigned herself to this, Leopold wasn't a good or skilful lover and she hadn't expected him to be. He was old, set in his ways and used to compliance and being obeyed. His touch didn't excite her and she wasn't aroused by his physic. Even his eyes were dull and his lips like sandpaper, his best feature was his child, and bearing in mind how Regina felt about Snow it was a miracle she was able to lay still beneath him at all.

With a grunt and a movement that rubbed his penis against her he forced up her nightshirt. She breathed shallowly and slowly, waiting for the pain as he would enter her. She was never ready for him, but he still managed to jam himself into her tight channel without much natural lubricant. Spit helped, or his own excitement smeared over his member from his own hand.

He began to move, to thrust himself into her and she lay there, inert, and focusing on the ceiling so she wouldn't have to see his face, her breathing shallow as a method of pain control and to also try not to inhale his panting, fetid breath.

After several minutes she heard the sound of the door creak open, her husband too engrossed or too drunk to notice. And as she looked over her husband's shoulder she saw Snow standing stock still in the doorway. Surprise and a dawning realisation she shouldn't have come as a blush crept upon her face.

"My King..." Regina breathed out, to stop the rutting spectacle and try and scar Snow as little as possible. Surely Leopold wouldn't want her to see this.

He didn't hear her as he continued to move his hips in his settled rhythm. He panted in her ear and she wanted to close her eyes and zone out again, but her visitor needed to be addressed.

She tried again, slightly louder, "Your Majesty." His vision cleared at the sound of her voice, and suddenly his focus was on her.

He stopped thrusting and held his weight from her with his arms. Anger blazed in his eyes at her inability to follow the rules he quiet clearly set.

"You dare interrupt?" he breathed, as he swung his right arm away and struck her across the face. The sound echoed loudly in the bedchamber, the force behind the slap clear in the crack it made against her skin. The pain didn't come immediately but it did cause her head to snap to the side and split her lip. She felt the sting and the heat flood to her cheek as she tasted blood in her mouth.

"Is even this beyond you?" he spoke low into her ear.

She slide her eyes to the doorway and whispered to him, "Snow."

He pulled further back and she moved her eyes to the door again, hoping he would understand they were no longer alone.

Snow stood there even more shocked, her features paler than ever. She couldn't believe what she had seen.

As her husband pulled out of her but stayed sat on the bed he told his wife, "Deal with her."

Regina guessed her arousal, if there had even been any, would be more easily hidden than his and stood from the bed to greet Snow. She felt blood drip down her chin and she blotted it with her hand. Snow's gazed fixated on the red smear left behind.

"Snow are you unwell?" Regina hoped they could both get out of this without The King dishing out further punishment. She prayed the girl would nod and give Regina something she could work with. All she needed now was her paranoid husband thinking she had set this up deliberately to thwart his desire. If that was her intention she could be more imaginative than this.

She took the girl firmly by the shoulder and turn her around, guiding her through the doorway and into the corridor.

Snow walked like she was in a catatonic state, she didn't make a sound, her head dropped as she studied the flagstone flooring. Regina felt a similar desire not to speak, she didn't want to explain what had been happening, but there was some kind of irony here. Snow's inability to follow instruction and her belief that she could sneak around and never worry about consequences because of her birth right had finally caught up with her. She had seen something horrible and was now in shock trying to process it. Regina wished ruefully this had happened to her years ago, so she could have learned her lesson before spying and discovering Regina's secret. But that wasn't to be, she would never know the loving touch or strong arms of Daniel again. Her hatred twisted in her gut and her grip tightened on the princess's shoulder. The young girl didn't even register it, she truly was in shock.

Regina berated the child in her head. Leopold might have been done and left her on her own by now had they not been interrupted. Now even after she had dealt with this White brat, she had to finish with the other entitled bastard. How had her life become this? She wondered as she reached Snow's bedroom door and pushed the heavy wood inward.

She tucked the child in with a whispered "Goodnight Snow." but before she could leave the girl grasped her wrist tightly.

"Were you trying to make a baby?" Snow asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes." The Queen gritted out, her voice tight. There was no chance, Regina would never carry that man's child, but it was better Snow believed that than that her father enjoyed power, dominance and young flesh once he had become drunk.

"I always knew he wanted a son." Snow breathed out and Regina finally realised why the girl was quite so silent, quite so shocked. She had seen in quite graphic detail that her father still sought a male heir. It was more than the sexual act that had disturbed her, more than the violence she had been witness to.

She was currently the heir to the kingdom, but she wasn't a Prince, she wasn't the son Leopold wanted to pass on his title to. He loved her, indulged her, spoiled her, but that was mostly because he didn't understand her. He couldn't train her with a sword, couldn't ride with her into battle, couldn't teach her the fiscal responsibilities or talk through war strategy or the defence of the borders. Her worth lay in being pure and finding a good marriage, and Snow knew this, but was able to shy away from it during the daylight with laughter and love. Deep down she was aware what her father wanted, she hid behind her childish actions, but it had been hammered home tonight.

Regina felt a stab of pity then, though it was fleeting. Snow had seen more than she knew how to handle this night. She was still at times so innocent and had placed her father on a pedestal. And now he was slipping in front of her. Regina understood that pain very acutely, her own relationship with her father full of love, but also regret and anger that he stood by idly while her mother dealt out her brand of pain and unfair punishment. When she had realised he was going to be a silent ally she had had to deal with him falling from the pedestal she had placed him on.

"He hit you." The younger woman brought Regina's focus back to the present.

"Yes, I broke the rules." she confirmed, her jaw set as she did her duty, defended her King and condemned herself in the same breath. She hated her title, her prison, her life.

"But father is gentle. The whole kingdom says he is just and fair." Snow shook her head and looked at the injury she knew her father had inflicted. When she had heard the sound of his hand connecting with Regina's face she had shivered, feeling the blow travel like a living thing through the air and settle on her own skin like a cold clamp. Tears had stung her eyes as Regina looked over at her but didn't cry out. Snow knew it had hurt and if it had been her she would have tears falling freely and sobs coming from her throat. Regina had just let her head loll for a minute and her eyes went dull as she internalised the pain. She didn't even whimper. Was this what a good wife did? Snow was forever being read bedtime stories of True Love and magical marriage unions that settled wars and territory disputes. That Princes danced beautifully, sweeping you off your feet, and that you produced heirs when you devoted yourself to physically sealing the bond of love and then lived happily ever after. None of what she had seen in the darkness of her stepmothers bedchamber had been loving, it seemed cold, detached and then violent. Qualities she would never have associated with her father.

Her head hurt with all the information she had been bombarded with and she felt sick. She noticed her stepmother's hand shook slightly as she placed the blanket under her chin. She didn't really understand the anatomy, or exactly what she had seen, she had overheard things the maids said, but she wasn't sure she wanted to understand after witnessing that. She sucked on her lip and blinked rapidly to dispel the tears forming and wished she could sink into her bed and forget.

"Go to sleep Snow, things will seem better in the morning." Regina licked her lips to check the blood had stopped flowing before leaning forward and gently kissing her forehead.

"But I can't unsee it." Snow whined and Regina could only nod. There were many things she wished she could unsee.

"No you can't, but you learn to deal with it. We have no choice, we can only keep going forward." The comfort she offered tasted like ash in her mouth but she smiled gently.

How she wished that wasn't true. In her very near future she'd likely be pushed to her knees and made to finish off her husband with her mouth. But she had to go forward and hope somewhere in the distant future it would get better. Ideally with his death, slow and painful.

"Go to sleep Snow, you are safe here, don't give it any further thought." she tried to sooth and found that Snow must have burned through any adrenaline and was beginning to show signs of fatigue and close her eyes. It was probably the stress catching up on her and Regina smiled down on her as she kept blinking sleepily.

"Goodnight." she whispered before burrowing into the blankets and mercifully closing her eyes.

Regina stood, her legs shaking slightly and her hands damp with perspiration. Out of the two, this was the easier White to deal with. She now had to placate and please the other one. A drunken and angry one. She held her resolve but she shivered. Her nightgown was thin and the air cool but she was well aware than wasn't the reason for her body's response.

She placed her cool hand to her face, feeling the swelling, it may even bruise. She knew better than to expect an apology. As she closed the door to her bedchamber behind her she locked it. A case of closing the stable door after the horse had bolted, but it was something to do with her hands while she steeled her nerve.

She looked up to find her husband stroking himself. He hadn't brought himself to completion, that would be too easy. No, he needed to dominate and stamp his authority on this. He had waited and held off so he could continue his rutting and force her to submit. It was how he felt powerful, and she recognised her husband was a deeply troubled and unhappy man. Quite possibly still in love with his dead wife and inflicting his hurt on others in a very twisted way when he couldn't have his heart's desire. Regina understood that, a broken heart with shattered pieces cut into anyone who got close. Hers kept making her bleed, and if she had any real power she'd contemplate widening the circle so it wasn't just her that got cut. After all misery loves company. She pushed her own heartache away, she needed to be strong for her next actions.

"You took your time." he muttered as she removed her gown and stood before him, awaiting instructions like the polite, order taking wife duty expected her to be. At the sight of her bare breasts, soft and pert, capped tightly with an erect nipple, because of the cold and nothing to do with sexual heat, he stroked himself faster.

He looked at her face, but seeing the damage he had inflicted earlier quickly looked away again. She wondered if it was guilt she saw settle on his features for a moment.

"Get on the bed, on your hands and knees." he gruffly ordered and she had to admit she sighed in relief. This was her favourite position, if you could call any sexual experience with her husband that, because she didn't have his weight pressing into her, his scent permeating all around her. She felt stifled in the missionary position and found it harder to disconnect. This way, with him behind her, she could imagine it was someone else, and the position was also the one that gave her some feeling. Leopold's length hit a sweet place inside her from this angle and coupled with imagining it was the captain of the guard gripping her hips and filling her she could find a level of arousal. It made the whole process more enjoyable, she created natural lubricant which eased the pain of his member sliding into her. It was never enough for her to say she liked it, sex with her husband was a formality she had to endure, but this was the least painful and unpleasant.

He had obviously been touching himself and bringing himself close to completion in her absence because he didn't last very long at all.

He barely entered her and then started to move his hips, pushing into her deeper with each thrust as she was still tight and her body resisted his advances. He was used to this and kept hammering away at her, knowing once he was fully sheathed her muscled tended to relax to allow him full movement. She grasped one of her breasts and massaged it to help along the fluids needed for this to be easier. And soon her body responded and she sighed as she felt him glide rather than jam himself into her.

His grip on her hips kept her still as he set the speed, he groaned and moaned his pleasure as his thighs hit her ass cheeks repeatedly and she recognised his breathing becoming more laboured as he raced towards his climax.

His hands began to slip as he perspired with his efforts and Regina steeled herself for the moment he came inside her, spilling his unwanted seed into her and then collapsing in a sweaty and breathless heap on top of her.

She wanted to bite her lip, but the pain still radiated from it. She wanted to twist her face in disgust but the swelling stopped her. She just hung her head as he buried himself deeply inside her and she felt him release against her sensitive walls. At least it was over. If she was lucky he would leave quickly, allowing her to use a rag to wipe his sticky remnants from inside her thighs, saving her from sleeping in a cold and wet patch.

After some vague muttering, she had managed to zone out and ignore him, assuming correctly it was drunken rambling, her husband left her. There were no more words, no tender aftergolw, not that she was glowing with anything other than rage and a painfully swelling face. She was at least alone and able to try and calm her mind enough so she could get some sleep.

Regina could have let her mind wander, contemplating her life, her choices, wallowing in self-pity. But she knew after this Snow would have questions and she would need to be alert and awake to deal with them. She couldn't yet be truthful and destroy Snow's view of her father, no matter how much she wanted to. There would be time for that later.

So she rolled over and embraced the dark in the room, letting it sooth her nerves and pull her towards sleep. Tomorrow was a new day, she would see what seeds of doubt she could sow in the young woman's head without forcing the confrontation. With luck Snow might slowly drive herself mad with the knowledge that Daddy Darling wasn't the perfect gentleman she thought. Just maybe her vile pig of a husband had actually done her a favour this evening, in a perverse and painful kind of way.

She smiled, as much as her damaged face allowed her and plotted until sleep claimed her.


End file.
